Lakebay Marina ‘back in play,’ boating group asserts, saying owner ready to accept deal

A deal to buy the decrepit Lakebay Marina on the Key Peninsula is on again, a spokesman for the Recreational Boating Association of Washington said Sunday.

Bob Wise, president of the boating association, said the group’s bid to acquire the marina “is back in play,” after owner Mark Scott changed his mind about rejecting it.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled,” he said. “It has been a big, hard, long project. We’re trying to do something pretty unique and challenging, and it’s not surprising there were some glitches along the way. We’re just really glad that Mark has changed his mind.”

The dilapidated marina with its decaying buildings and scuttled boats has been a major eyesore on the Key Peninsula. The nonprofit RBAW Marine Park Conservancy had hoped to take if over and eventually donate it to the state as part of the state parks system.

In December, 2019, it agreed to pay $1.24 million for the property, which includes the pier, the warehouse and cafe, and five parcels of land surrounding Mayo Cove.

The offer included $250,000 budgeted by Pierce County and an allocation of $100,000 from state of Washington. The RBAW was to raise the rest.

Then the coronavirus outbreak put a crimp in fundraising efforts. In September, the association asked for a one-year extension and offered to pay $25,000 up front. Scott countered by raising his price to $3.135 million..

That appeared to scuttle the deal.

“We cannot in good conscience agree to those terms,” Wise said at the time. The tentative agreement was allowed to lapse Sept. 30.

Change of heart

But on Nov. 1 — election day — Scott reached out to Wise and offered a one-year extension to Sept. 30, 2021 under the same terms as before, said Doug Levy, a lobyist who reprents the group in Olympia..

What caused the change of heart “is not for us to say,” Levy said, but Scott had received recent communication from the state Department of Natural Resources regarding his aquatic lands lease renewal, “and that may have caused him to rethink his earlier counter-offer.”

Scott could not immediately be reached for comment.

The abrupt change of heart caught the RBAW with only a short window to file a grant request with the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office, Wise said.

“It’s literally due tomorrow,” Wise said Sunday. “We’ve been working frantically all week to get the paperwork done.”

Levy added that boating group had been “working feverishly” on a Boating Facilities Program application through DNR.

That effort is now “back on track.” Levy said, although it will depend on support from the Legislature in the capital budget.

Created in 1964, the state Boating Facilities Program provides grants to acquire, develop, and renovate facilities for motorized boats and other watercraft, including launching ramps, guest moorage, and support facilities.

“Under the terms of the application, if funding is allocated, the RBAW Marine Park Conservancy would deed its ownership of Lakebay over to DNR and work with DNR on the planning effort,” Levy explained. “We and DNR think that ultimately, the most logical owner of the property may be Washington State Parks — and there will be time later to explore that idea.”

If all goes well, Wise said, the property deal will close in summer of 2021, and work can begin replacing the rotting pilings and boat docks. The main pier and its building are in fairly good shape already, he said.

“We need to get those docks and pilings out of the water right away, and then there will be a bidding and rebuilding process that may take two or three years. This is not a short-term project.”

Kayakers and paddle-boarders, however, may be able to use the beach launching areas sooner, he said.

Landmark on Peninsula

The historic marina has been a landmark on the Key Peninsula since the 1880s, but it has been in rundown condition for decades. Since acquiring the property in 2013, Scott has struggled with maintenance and numerous regulatory problems.

Once a 19th Century timber-loading dock, a stop for the famed “Mosquito fleet” of small steamers, and later an egg warehouse, the Lakebay Marina is one of only two public marine facilities on the Key Peninsula, and one of the few fuel docks in the southern part of the Sound.

Scott has struggled to keep up with electrical and structural problems dogging the deteriorating pier and warehouse. At one point, the entire facility was closed by Pierce County until it was brought up to fire and safety codes.

The marina and its adjoining Lakebay Cafe reopened in July 2019, following months of reconstruction and work to meet state and county standards.

The marina, cafe and campground were dogged in the past by county permitting and health violations. It was cited in June 2019 for an unapproved water system and for not having power in the cafe, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said.

History of problems

“It struggled, in all honesty, and there have been quite a few issues over the last few years to keep it running,” Derek Young, who represents the Peninsula, told The Gateway in September.

Over the years, county and state cited Scott in a slew of investigations, including operating an illegal RV park and campground, improper food handling, water and sewer violations, allowing illegal live-aboards, illegal clam and oyster harvesting, and illegal scuttling of boats.

Scott said last year he was being red-taped to death and considered abandoning the property following months of violation notices and issues. Some with mobile homes or boats saw advertisements on Craigslist and began to live on the property without proper facilities, and Scott was caught up in a long-running feud with a tenant who refused to leave.

The marina still faces legal issues, Young noted.

“He is going to have to put money into it, there are code-enforcement actions on the way from numerous agencies,” the council member said. “It can’t stay status quo.”

“He is in violation from his lease from the state, the nuisance property abatement from the county, and he hasn’t responded to those. Lawsuits have been filed to him from the nuisance side. He has been in breach of the Department of Natural resources lease for years now.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 1:57 PM.